She's worried that the F-35 will be louder than the planes already flying overhead -- loud enough to change her neighborhood.

"People are fighting for their homes, and that puts it on a whole different level," said Andreoli.

One level that gets a lot of attention is 65 decibels, an FAA benchmark on noise levels near an airport.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement predicts the F-35 will be 17 decibels louder than an F-16 on takeoff, and would leave nearly 1,000 more homes with an average sound level of at least 65 decibels. A lot of the homes affected by the predicted new noise footprint are in Winooski. If the guard gets six additional jets, the total number goes up to about 1,300.

"The increase in the decibel levels will cause our homes to be unsuitable for residential use," said Andreoli.

She cited page C-14 of the DEIS which states that areas exposed to a day-night average level above 65 decibels are generally not considered suitable for residential use.

In response, the Vermont Air National Guard said that's not a law, and that "the responsibility for determining the acceptable and permissible land uses remain with the local authorities."

Winooski Mayor Mike O'Brien said some people in the city have already been living inside a 65 DNL zone for years. He said right now, there's no plan to change the zoning.

Andreoli is still worried about her community.

"Your home is not going to be able to get the value of sale that it should because of this designation," she said.

She also said the DEIS relies on older census data that doesn't reflect the current community.

"They use a 2000 census which didn't show all the refugee population that we have in the city, and it didn't show a lot of the new houses in our downtown," said Andreoli.

If the noise level in Winooski does go up, she said people invested in their homes would be hurt.

"Where is Winooski's compensation in this if this is going to come and have these levels?," asked Andreoli.

A UVM economist who used to work for the state said home values could be affected, but it's hard to know how much.

"The value of your house is based in part on the fact that you're in a flight path. If now there's more planes or noisier planes of some combination, well that's going to make it a little bit worse," said UVM professor Arthur Woolf.

"So we're trying to put the data out, we're trying to show the massive support for this, and the fact that it's really good for our region," said Pomerleau.

Supporters circulated a petition that garnered more than 10,700 signatures.

Opponents question how many of those people who signed the petition actually live in affected areas. If they can't agree on something as simple as a petition count, you can imagine the disagreement over what happens if the F-35's don't come to Vermont.

"There's been nothing said officially, by anyone, that this base would close. It's had seven or eight missions over the years," said Andreoli.

"Nobody has approached me with any option other than flying the F-35," said Col. David Baczewski, commander of the 158th Fighter Wing at the Vermont Air National Guard.

"Half of our jobs here are tied to the maintenance of an aircraft. If there's not an aircraft to maintain, there there's no reason for those jobs to exist," said LtCol Daniel Finnegan of the Vermont Air Guard.

Woolf said if those jobs do go, it could have a widespread impact. But in the end, he said, like all economic questions this one involves weighing the pros with the cons.

"Almost always the case, is that when there's cost, the costs are impacted on a relatively small number of people and the benefits are widely diffused," Woolf said.